


That's What I'm Counting On

by parkitcharlie



Category: Orphan Black (TV), Portal (Video Game)
Genre: F/F
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2014-07-03
Updated: 2014-11-22
Packaged: 2018-02-07 05:39:31
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 5
Words: 5,352
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/1887027
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/parkitcharlie/pseuds/parkitcharlie
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>In which Rachel makes the perfect GLADoS and Sarah never stood a chance.</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Routine

It’s the same every day.

You wake up without an alarm (you stopped needing that a long time ago). You roll out of bed and eat the breakfast that DYAD provides ( _packed with all your daily nutritional needs_ they say, it doesn’t do much for the emptiness clawing inside you). You listen to the daily announcements with all the others (they only speak of _science_ and it might as well be _gibberish_ ). You pull on a jumpsuit and a pair of boots (you’ve found it best to ignore the stains). Then you test until she’s satisfied (and you can start the routine again).

You had a life before this, but you stopped thinking about it. It doesn’t do you any good to long for the outside world. This is your reality now, this is your choice. Sometimes you catch yourself thinking about how you could have solved a test faster. Your arm feels strange without the weight of the portal gun. Even your dreams are filled with testing. You wake up with flashes of orange and blue (and red) burned on your eyelids. You never think about escaping.

You used to.

She had tried to kill you and you responded by killing her back. It seemed a fair gesture at the time. Had you been given a moment to gloat you would have. Unlucky for you, finishing her off was a bit more _explosive_ than you had planned. You passed out thinking you were finally free. You woke up inside DYAD to find she was still alive ( _a complete accident_ , Scott insists) (given his track record you believe him). She wasn’t very happy about the whole “killing her” thing either. She wanted revenge. Scott hatched some half baked plan to escape that almost blew up the entire facility. You had been forced to work together to take him down; she even saved your life in the end. The two of you formed something that resembled friendship, and then she let you go. She told you not to come back.

You should have been relieved to have been kicked out. You should have been happy to feel the sun on your face. It was what you had wanted, it was why you blew her up in the first place. You weren’t happy. There was nothing left for you on the outside anymore. Your family had fallen off the grid in your absence; Siobhan moved them somewhere safer, far away from the reach of DYAD. It was useless to try and contact them, you were once the property of DYAD, you were a threat. So you lived in a dingy apartment on the outskirts of town and waited tables for a living. You didn’t like to admit it, but you missed testing, missed portals, missed _her_. Just like always, you did what she told you not to do. You came back.

It’s the same every day, but at least now you’re doing something.

“This next test is a challenge for someone of your wide girth. I’m sure you’ll figure something out.” RACHeL’s voice fills the test chamber. You smirk despite yourself; it’s been a few weeks since she commented on one of your tests. It was a pleasant change from the silence you’ve grown used to. You fire a few portals, navigating the first part of the puzzle with ease. You pause, planning out your next move. _I have to knock over that turret before I can do anything else, but I can’t put a por—_

“Wow. I had forgotten how incredibly stupid you are.” Her robotic voice snaps you from your thoughts. “Oh. I’m sorry. Am I distracting you? Pity.” You roll your eyes and refocus on the turret. _The gel! Of course!_ Shifting positions you fire another portal as the speakers, once again, crackle to life. “Do you remember that time I told you that you did well? I just removed that. Now no one will know about that time. I would feel bad for you except for that I don’t.” Your plan worked, and with the turret gone you finish the test easily. RACHeL sighs. “I suppose you want me to write that down. I don’t plan to.”

You lean against the lift to catch your breath. She’s considerably more talkative than usual. If you didn’t know any better you would say she was…bored. Surely the AI had something more important to do than bug you, _like running the bloody place._

“Come on Sarah, there is still a lot of science to be done.” You shrug, looking at the panels around you.

“Is there? Then what are you doing wastin’ time here?” You ask (your voice sounds raw to you) (you haven’t had a reason to use it in awhile). She pauses. You can tell she’s just as surprised by your voice as you are. The panels around you flicker and there she is, her optic presses against the screen bathing you in yellow light. _Now that’s new_ , you think idly.

“It must be a special occasion,” she says. “Are you going to murder me again?”

You laugh (again the sound is foreign) and shake your head. “I just have to prove every once in a while that I’m not a mute lunatic, yeah? There’s no harm in that.” Her optic narrows and she stares (you can’t ignore the way your spine tingles as her gaze pierces through you). Finally she backs away and you feel yourself relax.

“All data still points toward you being a lunatic.” She says simply. The screen flickers and the regular safety images reappear.

You complete the rest of your tests in silence.

It gives you a lot of time to think.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I don't know what this is. I honestly didn't believe I would start a propunk story before a soccer cop one. I blame sharkodactyl. And the ending of Portal 2.


	2. The Most Important Meal of The Day

She wakes you up two hours earlier than usual.

That fact alone is annoying enough; the alarm she uses is just cruel. An ungodly screech jerks you into consciousness, tearing you away from your dreams like you tear the wrappers off DYAD breakfast bars. Speaking of breakfast, it’s nowhere to be seen. _Of course not, breakfast is distributed at seven not five…why the hell am I up at five?_ You blink a few times confused. Your heart is still pounding from the wake-up call (you swear your ears are ringing). None of this makes any sense. You jump to the worst case scenarios first: _It’s happening again. Any minute now Scott is going to burst in here and tell me the other subjects are dead. RACHeL has lost it. Coming back was a death wish you idiot. You could be living in a rat infected apartment but NOOOO. Stupid stupid stupid..._

As it was, someone does enter the room, but it isn’t Scott. It’s one of the fleshy-looking AI’s, created to help maintain the facility (in case RACHeL becomes a potato again or something else equally hilarious). They are surprisingly real looking, though you suppose that’s the point. She has her hair pinned away from her face, a headband securing her bangs. Her hands are folded neatly in front of her and her back is straight (for someone so human looking, her stance is robotic). She makes a noise akin to clearing her throat. _You’re staring._ Embarrassed, you drop your gaze, brain fumbling to remember the name of the AI in front of you.

“She wants to see you early.” The sound of her voice jogs something in your memory.

“Right, yeah, thanks Alison.” She seems pleased you remembered her name (you’re just relieved to have been correct). You wait for her to go so you can get dressed. Alison doesn’t move from her spot at the foot of your bed. She just tilts her head, studying you (payback). You grab at your thin blanket awkwardly. “Is that all?” She blinks.

“She says to meet where you tried to kill her.” Then she spins on a heel and exits. You want to call after her and ask “Which time?” but you already know that answer.

The time you succeeded.

\--

It doesn’t take you long to get ready, as there isn’t much for you _to_ get ready (still you stall; you’re more than willing to keep RACHeL waiting after this morning). When you’ve killed as much time as you can, you make your way through the building. The place is settled in an odd sort of calm with only the occasional robot passing you by. They pay you no mind as you walk down the hall; all of them are preoccupied with something else. It’s a surprisingly pleasant journey and it’s almost enough to make you forget your impending doom.

At least, you _assume_ that’s why RACHeL wanted to see you. You can’t really imagine what else it could be. Meeting in the place where you blew her to smithereens? She might as well have told you (it was a little surprising she didn’t) (she’s straightforward like that). The only question was, why? You’ve been doing everything she asked. You don’t cause trouble with the other subjects; you don’t even talk most the time. She doesn’t really have a reason to off you (not counting, of course, your two attempts on her life and the pencil incident). You swallow hard. Nothing about today has made any sense. You don’t appreciate the change.

Your footsteps echo around you as you enter the chamber. It looks different from the last time you were here (probably because it’s been rebuilt since then…twice). RACHeL hangs in the middle of the room, intently studying a monitor.

“You’re late.” She says, not bothering to turn. You step carefully into the room. You treat it like a test, scanning for potential threats. The room is nearly empty but that doesn’t do much to relax you. There could be any number of dangers behind the stark white walls. You’re half expecting the place to fill with neurotoxin when you step up to meet her (it doesn’t).

“I’m sluggish. I haven’t had my breakfast yet.” Your tone is cautious but your words aren’t. Your stomach growls as if to further prove your point. Still, she doesn’t look at you, instead swiveling examine a different panel.

“Breakfast is the most important meal of the day. You really shouldn’t skip it.” You swear you can hear the smirk in her voice. _Bitch._

You scoff. “I’ll try and remember that.” RACHeL continues to ignore you. She obviously wants you to squirm and you are very close to giving in. _What do you want?_

“DYAD is expanding its horizons. Soon there will be a whole new line of tests.” She turns around to face you. “All of our subjects are idiots but you seem to have a decent enough survival rate.” You hold back a smile. You’re the best they have (you wonder how long it took her to turn that into an insult), “Starting today you will have testing once a week,” She pauses as if the next part of her sentence exhausting to say, “With me.”

The question forms on your face before you can find the words to say it. _What does she expect me to do with myself when I’m not testing?_ It’s not like you have a life to get back to.

“The testing is very extensive; you should thank me for the break.” She says, reading your mind. “Besides, we plan to keep you busy Sarah. There will be other tests to be done, medical procedures, psychological experiments…” She trails off. You stare at her.

“Experiments? Procedures? Yeah, no thanks.” RACHeL laughs (at least you think it’s a laugh, it’s a strange mechanical sound) and shakes her head.

“I am not in charge of those things so don’t worry. No one is going to switch your hands and feet, or test to see how long you can hold your breath on fire, or make you grow a tail.” You raise your eyebrows, “It was in the cards.” She says as if that explains it. She turns away. You shift your weight, waiting for some sort of dismissal. For a few minutes the only sound is the quiet hum of RACHeL’s chassis and then she swivels back to you.

“You’re still here?” You shrug, sheepish. “I have nothing else to say to you.”

\--

When you get back to your room there are two breakfast bars waiting for you. You figure it’s best not to question as you tear off the wrappers.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I am obsessed with this AU and you should be to. O B S E S S E D. Obsessed doesn't look like a word. It's two in the morning.


	3. Sock-er

There is a different sort of rhythm to your life these days.

Your interactions with RACHeL have increased. If there was any protocol on limiting contact with test subjects before, there doesn’t seem to be one now. She’s still a pain in the arse though. She chides you, hums “Hard-Knock Life” when you complain, insists that you are positively overweight; now it feels more like ‘ _you can do better_ ’ than anything else.

The tests have changed but the idea is still the same. You complete the chamber. You don’t die. You are still doing it for science (they call it _neolution_ ) and it still makes no sense to you. You never dreaded testing before; you’ve always kind of liked the rush it gave you, but now it was something you found yourself looking forward to. There is a part of you (a rather large part) that is actually _excited_ for testing days.

It’s different, it feels more like _life_.

When you aren’t testing there are the examinations. You get prodded daily by scientists. They take blood samples, hair samples, skin samples, stool samples too, though you don’t really like to think about those. You don’t ask questions because you don’t have to, they usually explain themselves as they go. Being in-the-know is a luxury you had forgotten. Sometimes, you could go without the scientific rambling but overall, the scientists aren’t bad (now if you could just figure out if they were human).

You’ve also been seeing more of Alison. You know it’s her duty to watch over the subjects (she’s far more competent than Scott) but it seems like she’s everywhere now. She’ll pop in the medical wing and say hello sometimes, always with the same stiff, robotic stance. Occasionally she walks with you to testing. The two of you don’t talk much (but truth be told: you don’t mind the company). Alison enters your room now, pausing in the hallway that leads to your door.

“You have testing today.” She says curtly. You hold back a smirk. You may not know what day it is to the rest of the world, but you do know when it’s testing day. She knows that you know too, and yet…

“Yeah? I know that.” You toss a balled sock into the air. Alison tracks it with her eyes.

“It’s not for a few more hours.” You nod. You knew that too. Alison is quiet for a moment. “Is this how you plan to spend your day?” You let the sock-ball drop to the floor with a dull thud.

“I hadn’t really made any fancy plans, no… Thought I’d have a night in. Why?” You turn to Alison and she fidgets, her hand hovers by her face. She huffs (you didn’t know robots _could_ huff).

“I don’t know Sarah I’m just making conversation!” You let go of a laugh which only succeeds in making the AI more upset. “I get bored tending to the subjects! They’re just sad all the time and it gets so dull! Who else am I going to talk to though? I try and talk to Cosima and get lectured about science, I try and talk to RACHeL and you can guess how that goes. She said you were interesting so I thought I’d give it a go, but you’re boring too!” She huffs again, crossing her arms.

“I’m sorry for being boring?” She rolls her eyes. You pause, the last part of her rant getting to you. “Wait, who thinks I’m interesting?” You’d call yourself a lot of things but interesting was not one of them. Especially not in here (you’re playing with a _sock_ ).

“RACHeL! You’re all she seems to talk about. I swear she needs a hobby: pottery, knitting, something.”

“I think _I’m_ her hobby, Alison.” You sigh and pick up the sock from the floor. “So, did you want to do something then?” Alison looks at you curiously.

“Do what? There’s nothing around here to do.” You stand and knock over your trashcan. A few wrappers fall out but you brush them aside, focusing instead on the robot before you.

“That’s where you’re wrong.” You toss the sock-ball to Alison and stand in front of your make-shift goal. “Can I interest you in a game of sock-er?”

\--

Alison proved to be quite good at the game (better than Kira) and won by a landslide. It was probably the most _human_ interaction you’ve had in ages, _Funny it came from an AI_. By the time you reach the chamber, you’re in a fairly good mood.

“What will it be today?” You ask the room. “Combustible lemons? Praying mantis DNA?” RACHeL appears on the wall beside you.

“We’re going to inject something into your blood and see if you gain night vision.” She deadpans. You shrug and roll up your sleeve. It’s entirely possible she’s kidding, of course, but it’s equally likely she’s not (either way, you figure you’re probably getting a needle in your arm).

“Is it permanent?”

“I don’t know. We’ve never tested it before.”

“You’re joking.”

“I suppose you’ll find out.” A small hole opens in the wall and you stick your arm inside. There is a pinch and then… “If you feel like your veins are melting, that is not a part of the test.” You smile at the monitor and unroll your sleeve. RACHeL gives you a once over. “Well?” You stretch.

“I’m 87% sure I’m not dying.” Her optic narrows (a gesture you’ve come to know as a smile).

“I’ll be sure to write that down.” The lights go out and you’re plunged into darkness. At first you see nothing, but then your vision slowly ebbs back into focus. Before you can tell RACHeL about this, a turret is pushed into view. Instinctively, you fire off your portal gun and knock the machine out of commission. “Oh good,” RACHeL purrs. “It works.”

“I would have heard that thing coming from a mile away, Rach.” The monitor turns back on and the room is dimly illuminated.

“I know you idiot. I’m only here to help you Sarah.” You shake your head.

“Really? Do me a favor and open the chamber door, yeah?”

Another RACHeL-smile flashes across the screen before it flickers off. You can’t help but mirror it.


	4. You Came Back

“Do you ever miss it?” She asks you out of the blue one day.

“Miss what?” You charge through a portal, letting momentum carry you where you need to be. You hit the platform with a satisfying sound. It’s been a few days since RACHeL has started a conversation that wasn’t about the testing. If you weren’t so focused on figuring out the problem in front of you, you might have been caught off guard by the softness of her voice.

“Do you ever miss the outside world?” It’s enough for you to take pause.

You lower your portal gun slowly and take a seat on the edge of the platform. Below you the solution presents itself, a simple matter of a few well placed shots, but it doesn’t seem as important now. It’s a long way to the ground anyways (faintly you wonder when you stopped fearing heights).

“I don’t really think about it.” You don’t, but now you feel like you should. _Do I miss it? Of course I do! Why would I want to be holed up with a bunch of stupid robots when there’s a whole world out there?_ It wouldn’t make any sense you conclude (a voice at the back of your mind nags: _you came back_ )

“That didn’t really answer the question.” You suppose it didn’t, but you’ve already asked yourself the same thing a hundred times. The answer never really made much sense.

y _ou came back you came back you..._

“I don’t know,” you say and it’s the most honest thing you’ve said all day. “There’s not much left for me out there. I was a leech out there. When I’m in here…I’m helping someone. I’m furthering science.” You stare at your boots as they dangle over the edge of the platform. “I got nothing left to miss.”

“You have a daughter don’t you? Do you ever miss her?” _That_ does catch you off guard. Hell, that knocks the air out of your chest.

You think about Kira. You think about her paintings and her drawings. You think about her crazy intuition. You think about her folding paper angels, making sure the crease is just right. You think about her falling asleep on your lap halfway through movie night. You think about _Kira_ , the best and the bravest you’ve ever known. You look around you for a moment, almost dizzy, and think for a second maybe you _are_ scared of heights and falling and everything there is. An emptiness fills the space in your chest and you stand.

“I had a daughter.”

RACHeL never responds.

\--

You want to be mad at RACHeL as you storm into your room muscles aching. It would be easy to blame your shortcomings with motherhood on her. It would be true though. DYAD didn’t take you from Kira, you were already gone. Siobhan didn’t come running to save you because hadn’t even known you were in town. You can’t even blame RACHeL for separating you now.

_you came back_

“For what?” You ask the empty room. “Because I missed her? Is that what it all comes down to then? _Feelings?_ I came back okay? Now what?"

A silence settles before you realize you’re waiting for an answer.

“Am I going insane?” It certainly feels like it. It sure doesn’t seem like you’ve been making the sanest decisions.

_you came back you came back_

_you came back this is your fault yourfault_

_you came back you came back your fault yours_

_you came back_

You sigh and wonder if she’s listening now. You can just see her, hanging from the ceiling, making note of your every word. It really shouldn’t surprise you that she takes this moment to appear on your wall. You still jump at the appearance regardless of its predictability.

“What the hell do you want?” You can’t help but spit the words at the screen. RACHeL seems taken aback by your greeting, screen flickering.

“I…” She falters a moment before continuing. “The DYAD group is expanding its horizons.”You snort.

“So I’ve heard. That’s why I got the new tests and why I’ve been seeing so much of your metal face.” It’s a cheap shot and you know it. If she’s bothered by it, she doesn’t let it show. She simply stares you down.

“I’m leaving for a few days on a business trip—“

“Leaving? How is that possible? The place will blow up without you!” RACHeL stops, clearly annoyed by your interruption.

“We solved that problem after your little run in with Scott. The facility will be perfectly fine while I’m gone and it—“

“Yeah care to explain how you even plan to leave this place? I don’t suppose the scientists rigged you up a nice potato to travel in?” RACHeL sighs.

“Would you _please_ stop interrupting me? It’s terribly rude.” You shut up despite yourself and RACHeL continues.

“I’m going to be leaving the facility tomorrow and I want you to come with me.”

“What?”

“You heard me. You’re the best subject we have and the president of the “being-alive” club. I want you to come. I’ll have Alison pack you a bag and collect you in the morning.” You’re waiting for the confetti to fall from the ceiling and for RACHeL to laugh and say ‘You should have seen the look on your face! I can’t believe you thought I was serious!’ after all the cake was a lie, why wouldn’t this be? It doesn’t come. She’s not kidding. You blink.

“But how can you leave DYAD?” Her optic narrows, she’s clearly amused.

“Sarah, did you honestly think I conducted business in this body? As appealing as my chassis may be, humans wish to do business with humans. The lifelike androids were created for this purpose.” You try for a moment to imagine what a human RACHeL would look like but all that comes to mind is _bitch_. “I suggest you get some rest. We will have much to discuss on the plane.” She’s gone before you can get a chance to ask:

“Plane?”


	5. Standing Still

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> WOW THAT ONLY TOOK A REALLY LONG TIME. Do you even *know* how many times I wrote this? Please love me.
> 
> (FUN FACT: This chapter is saved on my computer as "literally fuck you")

It’s not your first plane ride, but it feels like it could be.

Back then, the flight hadn’t been so quiet; you had to deal with the man snoring next to you and Felix’s whining and then little boy who couldn’t stop kicking the back of your seat. Siobhan had dragged you out of bed at some godforsaken hour and told you to pack a bag. Next thing you remember you were listening to the engines’ roar (it was louder then, wasn’t it?)

Back then, you were running and you had been running until… Well, until now.

It takes a moment for you to realize this is the longest you’ve stood still. There have been no angry marks. No police. No boyfriends. No girlfriends. You haven’t forgotten what running feels like (Your lungs burn to even _think_ of it) but now it’s just a memory.

You laugh. How ironic it is that it took captivity to help you feel _free_.

You turn back to the window and stare at the clouds. It seems to you if you close your eyes you might touch one, so you do.

**|** _You dream of running and leaping over invisible obstacles. You dream of catching your breath._

_You dream of **y e l l o w** _ **|**

You jerk awake to a loud beeping. Instinctively you assess your surroundings. _You’re on a plane idiot_ , You tell yourself, _you fell asleep_. It doesn’t take you long to find the source of all the noise, a screen has appeared on the seat ahead of you. Barely awake, you answer the call and rub sleep from your eyes. No sooner than you press the button, a yellow light blinds you.

“I see you’ve settled in quite nicely.” You yawn in response and RACHeL continues. “We will be landing in an hour. There will be a man waiting to take you to the hotel. Please, be polite.” You snort and she sighs.

“Where are you going to be?”

“I have some business to attend to,” she says, as if this is sufficient response. “When you get to the room there are some things I want you to look at,” she pauses and then adds, “Okay fine, they’re weapons. You’ll be demonstrating a few of them; do try to not kill yourself.” Your mind fills with questions: _Where am I going? How far am I? What am I doing here? What kind of a hotel is allowing you to bring in weapons? Why--_

 

“So when can I expect you to grace me with your presence?” You hear yourself ask. For a moment you think maybe she hung up and this yellow light is just that. Then she makes a noise, a small click, one you would normally associate with someone thinking (it’s something else when RACHeL does it, isn’t it?)

“I’ll be by around midnight.”

Before you can speak, the screen goes dark.

\--

You’re trying to decide if the pencil in your hands is a weapon or a joke when it hits you; you have no idea where you are. Absently, you put down the pencil and move to the window. Your hand hesitates at the edge of the thick curtain…

_Breathe. It’s not like the world bloody ended while you were gone._

You pull with a bit more force than necessary and the whole thing falls on your head.

Enveloped in a velvety cocoon, you allow yourself a few moments to curse the hotel for its shoddy craftsmanship. You remove the offending curtain still swearing. It pools on the floor with a soft noise and…

The view seems like something you would see in a movie, the cars below, the moon above… It doesn’t feel real to you in the slightest. You watch smoke leave a chimney; you watch it curling as it expands and disappears into the skyline. You’re so engrossed by it all that you don’t notice the woman until she’s standing next to you.

There is a small part of you that is alarmed at the sight of her, but you don’t show it. She doesn’t take her gaze off the window (for a moment you feel like it was you who walked in on her, not the other way around) Your eyes trace her outline; everything about her is crisp from the folds in her suit to the sharp angle of her hair. Her stance is one of calculated power.

It’s RACHeL, at least, that’s what you think.

You clear your throat and look down.

“I told you I would be by, didn’t I?” RACHeL says, her voice sounds eerily flawless.

“I guess I lost track of time.” You say. She smiles (and actual smile, you note) and turns away.

“I guess you did.”

You’ve been in a room with RACHeL before, but that was different. That was RACHeL-The-Enemy. That was fighting for your life. That wasn’t small talk. You don’t think you ever did small talk. This is new territory and you’re stepping like the plush carpet hides landmines.

“I tried out the weapons like you asked.” You say finally. She nods, her eyes flicking over to them, disinterested. The silence is driving you crazy. “I’m still not sure what exactly is going on here” you add (there is a double meaning there that you dare not highlight)

“You don’t need to be so nervous, Sarah. I can hear your heart beating from over here.” You feel blood rushing to your cheeks. _Shite_. If RACHeL notices, she doesn’t say anything. “It’s just like any other testing day. The only difference is that here you have different people watching” she pauses, “so don’t die. It would be terribly embarrassing for the company.”

You smile at this and the room falls back into silence.

Outside, it has started snowing. You watch the flakes float down to earth like ashes. (After you blew up RACHeL you were treated to a similar scene. You landed out in the parking lot barely alive.

Victory had been achieved, but at what cost?

You could barely feel the hot concrete beneath you. Your entire being was screaming with an agony you had never known before. You couldn’t even hear but for the ringing in your ears. As darkness ebbed at the edges of your vision you looked up to the sky. You thought: _Goodbye_. You thought: _I’m sorry_.

When Scott woke you up, your mouth tasted of ash)

You stand together for a long time just watching. You’re standing close enough to the glass that the window is fogging over. You almost turn to say something about it to RACHeL before you remember only one of you is breathing. RACHeL, seeming to notice your aborted question, stirs slightly.

“I’ve always liked it in the labs. The thrill of scientific discovery… But the surface is such a lovely place sometimes.” She turns to look at you. “There’s science up here too. Humans. Going about their lives and making choices and creating disasters. There is so much data just sitting here. So many tests we could run.” You run a hand through your hair.

“You should talk to Cosima about that. She’s more of a geek monkey than me.” There is a flicker of something in RACHeL’s face but before you can pin it down it’s disappeared. She steps away from the window.

“Not half as interesting.” RACHeL says casually, and then she’s gone.


End file.
